Traemand transforms its learning experience for home improvement experts with Totara LMS

Traemand works across 32 states in the US to change the face of the home improvement industry. Their vision is to connect IKEA and its customers with local craftspeople of the highest calibre. They aim to provide an exceptional customer experience for all kitchen cabinet installations in the US and Canada.

The Challenge

As a rapidly expanding, constantly changing company, Traemand needed a highly flexible yet stable environment to provide access to training materials nationally. They also needed to track safety and compliance-based training owing to the nature of the business – installing kitchens and carrying out construction projects inside customers’ homes.

Traemand was using an LMS that was little more than a course delivery system with records. What they needed was something more flexible, customisable and robust. Their existing system didn’t allow them to create different types of groups (such as classes and audiences) with the complexity needed, and the interface was clunky for administrators and end users alike.

The Solution

Traemand chose to work with Totara Partner Envisiontel to help them implement a new LMS to support their learning programme.

One of the unique ways Traemand’s LMS administrator worked to address Traemand’s challenge was to set up Programs and badges to work concurrently. These guide users through required courses and allow company owners and managers to tell if their learners have completed these courses. Compliance badges are awarded based on a different set of courses, ensuring Traemand can easily run audits.

“They didn’t have anything close to this at a major competitor! You have so many courses and videos – this is great!” – Learner, Traemand

Traemand also needed to allow multiple users to have different visibility and access permissions based on their individual roles inside the organisation (some employees, some service partners with their own employees). The use of audiences and hierarchies was essential here.

Hierarchies within organisations and positions allowed Traemand to set up a site structure, ensuring everyone sees only what they need and nothing else, and that the necessary materials are assigned accurately. They created an entire employee structure as well as a partner structure, with special relationships.

Traemand has experimented with some basic plugins, and has found the open source aspect of Totara LMS valuable thanks to the available online support for users of the software from the global Totara community.

Another useful aspect of Traemand’s Moodle/Totara LMS setup is that they are able to fully control and administer their site internally, which is very important to them. As the site grows in complexity, this need for control will become increasingly important, and having the support of Envisiontel has been crucial to the success of this project.

Results

Traemand’s business objectives have been met both qualitatively and quantitatively. They are able to deliver training in a much more professional way, with an easy-to-use interface for their users. The LMS increases participation and engagement, and the custom reporting within Totara LMS also increases the visibility of this increased engagement.

Onboarding was another key objective for Traemand, and their new LMS has ensured it has become more streamlined and automated. They have a course for internal onboarding procedures that allows learners to upload photos of required items, certificates, and ID badge photos. Traemand is also about to start using a simple integration with NetSuite to automatically add users to the LMS once they’re added in NetSuite to reduce administration.

Traemand is growing rapidly, so the ability to add complexity as they need it has helped them stay on track throughout a busy onboarding period in recent months, helping them achieve their business goals over time.

“I’m so glad I have Traemand Exchange as an ongoing resource after my training. There is so much to learn!” – Experienced Kitchen Planners, Traemand

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Envisiontel is an elearning company specializing in educational ecommerce and cloud integration apps. We help our customers automate enrollments, manage courses and integrate educational programs with cloud platforms like Salesforce.com.